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Tuesday, 10 March 2015

The blame game

Another Islamist demonstrator marches in London - The Telegraph Photo: CARL COURT/AFP

“OF COURSE they say nice things these days,” says a Lebanese woman, a sophisticated Sunni Muslim in her 50s, gliding between English, French and Arabic. “They know who they're talking to. But you cannot trust them—absolutely not.” Again and again, in secular and liberal circles in Beirut, Cairo, Rabat, Tunis and even Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, you hear almost identical dark warnings against the Islamist movements that are gaining ground across the Arab world as dictators are toppled, tackled or forced into concessions. ...The doubts persist. “It is an 80-year project,” says a grandee of the liberal Wafd party, referring to the Brotherhood's origins. “In the long run they want an Islamic state, a caliphate.”
From: "Uneasy companions", The Economist, Aug 6th 2011
If things looked bleak in 2011 they are much worse in 2015 despite the crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In June 2014 the leader of so-called Islamic State declared the creation of a caliphate stretching across parts of Syria and Iraq. Had the last Muslim onslaught not been stopped outside the gates of Vienna in 1683, how many Western democracies would there be today? Looking at the fate of minorities in Egypt and other states where Islam dominates, Christianity would have suffered a worse fate than that inflicted by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church or, closer to home, by her devoted disciple the Archbishop of Wales. But I digress.

Of late I have been encouraged by two pieces of news. In the Telegraph: "Extremism in Britain: Now the crackdown is launched" - The Government is planning a series of tough new measures to combat the growing threat from Islamist extremists. A leaked draft of the Home Office’s new counter-extremism strategy, seen by The Telegraph, targets Sharia courts and calls for a ban on radicals working unsupervised with children over fears the young could be brainwashed. The crackdown is said to be part of a new "strategy to deal with the perceived growing threat to the UK from Islamist extremists."

About time too. According to the Telegraph report, the number of jihadists who have now travelled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) "has exceeded more than 700. Of those, about 320 “dangerous” jihadists have now returned to the UK after fighting with Isil, reinforcing the urgent need in Whitehall for a new set of anti-extremist measures."

The second news item has been delivered today by the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond: - "Terror 'apologists' must share blame:'Apologists' for those who commit acts of terrorism are partly responsible for the violence...Security services have been criticised over their handling of Mohammed Emwazi - known as "Jihadi John". But in a speech the foreign secretary praised the "brilliance" of Britain's intelligence officers. He has said ministers must act "decisively" in debates about powers given to the security services so they can "get on" with keeping the UK safe." That's the spirit!

There was an outpouring of sympathy in some quarters for one of the most notorious, bloodthirsty criminals, 'Jihadi John': "Critics say MI5's heavy surveillance drove Emwazi down path to radicalism. Pressure group Cage said Emwazi was ‘gentle’ before being probed by MI5". Balderdash. He was following his religion, although he made an exception when it came to alcohol, something forbidden in Islam and punishable by flogging in the Quran, unlike beheading, crucifixion, amputations and stoning which are believed to be the path to paradise for jihadists! [Warning, gruesome images which some may find distressing - Ed.]

Continuing the blame game "Relatives of three east London school girls who ran away to Syria, say the police failed to make sure they had crucial information that could have helped them stop their daughters from joining Islamic State" (here). I find it extraordinary that fifteen-year-old school girls not only had access to their passports, sufficient finance and other means to travel abroad but watching the proceedings of the Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee was illuminating.

Predictably the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and his Specialist Operations Assistant Commissioner were given a hard time by the Chairman for the Met's failure to stop the girls. Not knowing of the girls' intentions (why would they when tracking around 300 known serious risks), they had assumed that, as is common in most schools, letters given to children for their parents would have been properly delivered. With the benefit of hindsight these girls were found to be less than trustworthy. In evidence the Assistant Commissioner revealed that the money used to buy the airline tickets was the proceeds of selling stolen family jewelry.

We are led to believe that Muslim girls are not expected to be as vulnerable as the 'easy meat' exploited by men from allegedly "predominantly Pakistani and/or Muslim heritage backgrounds". - A spurious claim resulting in Asians being "unfairly blamed for this crime, when Islam is the common factor for 90% of the perpetrators, not their country of origin". Muslim girls are often bound in an 'honour' culture which in many ways contradicts the apparent freedom observed as these girls absented themselves from our shores. In that sense they are victims but they are victims of an alien culture which recognizes girls aged 9 as being of marriageable age following their Prophet's example. If you want the whole truth read the 'easy meat' link and download the PDF file.

Another contradiction hit the headlines with: "Dal Babu, a former Met chief superintendent, said the government’s anti-radicalisation strategy is a “toxic brand” run by mainly white officers with little understanding of Islam, gender or race....the lack of Muslim staff in the ranks of the “Prevent” scheme is hampering efforts to stop vulnerable young people, particularly women, from travelling to Syria to join Islamic State. He says police have been caught unawares by young people such as the three Bethnal Green schoolgirls travelling to Syria - and criticised counter terror efforts as “chaotic, piecemeal and unco-ordinated." Added to allegations of ‘spying in the community’ and ‘targeting Muslims’, it was suggested that the anti-terror strategy is seen as "intrusive and secretive by many Muslims".

Surely the obvious place to look for so-called radicalised Muslims is in the Muslim community. This issue was also raised at the meeting of the Home Affairs Committee implying that if more Muslims were employed things would have been different because 'they understand the culture'. Based on the dissembling evidence to date, that would be blaming everyone but themselves. Given the Islamic instruction to lie for the faith how are we to discern the truth?

Twelve months ago the Independent reported: The number of Muslims in the prison population had more than doubled to nearly 12,000 in a decade according to figures from the Ministry of Justice while Muslims represent only 4.7 per cent of the population in England and Wales, according to the most recent Census. One in seven prisoners (14 per cent) in England and Wales is a Muslim, according to the statistics. The dramatic rise prompted 'calls for ministers to investigate whether police and the courts are treating Muslims more harshly, with some suggesting the rise is due to Islamophobia', another handy tool in the blame game designed to exclude Islam from the criticisms thrown at other faiths.
How is that Muslims regard themselves as the victims despite all the benefits they have come to enjoy in Great Britain while non-Muslims are portrayed as at fault. Muslims are the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity, justifying their actions on a supremacist religious ideology based on the claims of one man which demand that non-Muslims are converted to Islam and that Sharia replaces democracy - or else?

There is an excellent answer to that question here in 'The False Dichotomy: Moderate Muslims vs. Radicals'.

If you didn't bother to watch the video testimony by Ex-Muslim terrorist Walid Shoebat who found Christ I strongly urge you to do so. His faith is an inspiration as he exposes the lies (taqiyya) perpetrated against non-Muslims.

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An ancient Briton's thoughts on topical news/events, occasionally with a hint of irony, with special reference to politics, society and religion, particularly if oddities or injustices are apparent.

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